Day of Affection
by MystiiriousAbnormality
Summary: Naruto has been gone for awhile and wants to try asking Sakura out again, will he be successful this time...maybe, or will someone beat him to it.


**I do not own Naruto**

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It's basically a valentine's fic if you wanted to know…

This is taking place a short time after where the manga is currently. The village is back to normal, as normal as it could be at least; however, it is a _little_ bit smaller of course. The time necessary for them to emotionally and physically heal has gone by. Also, Naruto wandered around the country for about a year, learning new jutsus and training himself. When he finally got home, the village was rebuilt, and everything was almost exactly in the same place as before the Pain incident.

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Day of Affection

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Naruto was walking down the street; he was headed for the Yamanaka flower shop. For you see, today was the Day of Affection. Although he hadn't been bothering Sakura about dates and going out anymore, he thought, 'Why not, it's worth a try.' So he waltzed into the flower shop just as Ino was closing.

"Naruto…I was just about to leave…." She said in a frustrated manner.

"Oh…sorry, I didn't realize you were closing down so early."

"Well…it is valentine's day after all."

"Yea, yea….that's exactly why I'm here….I want to get something for Sakura." He replied in a bit of a nervous tone.

Ino looked at him for a second, "Are you alright, you were never like that before…" she questioned him.

"Like what?" he asked in confusion.

"You asked all nervous like…." She replied.

"Oh…well...it used to just be a crush I had on her…a kid thing….but now it's different."

"Oohh….well….did you have something in mind." She asked, curious as to Naruto's new feelings for her best friend.

"Umm….I guess I'll just take a bouquet or something…"

"…or something… man, if you like her that much, don't you think you could at least come up with something more interesting?" she questioned teasingly.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her, which only caused the two of them to laugh.

"So…why haven't you gone to see Sakura since you've been back?" she asked.

"How'd you know that?"

"Ugh…best friend, duh…" she replied, as if it were obvious.

Naruto put his money out on the counter and looked at the register for a minute, "I don't know, I guess…I just haven't had the time…."

"Che….nice excuse…" she teased, handing him his change, and going to wrap some flowers in a bouquet. "Speak of the devil." Ino said as she pointed to Sakura walking by, she turned to notice Ino and waved to her with a smile, Ino waved back and giggled.

Naruto turned back to the counter, "Anyways…I guess I, well….I've been gone for about a year…I feel like we probably don't know each other anymore." He replied.

"Please…neither of you have changed a bit…she's exactly the same as when you left." Ino told him, finishing off the bouquet and handing it to him.

"If you say so, thanks Ino." He said as he walked out of the shop, smile creeping up on his face.

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By now it was about noon, and if Sakura was on the same schedule she usually had, Wednesdays at noon she would be working at the hospital. So he made his way over to the hospitals main building, all the while trying to think of something to greet her with, considering he hadn't talked to her in quite some time.

Just as the hospital came into view, he stopped where he was. At the bottom of the stairs he saw her, just as attractive as always, however, to Naruto's dismay; she was talking to someone, a guy. And right next to them was a little girl; she couldn't be more than a year old. This little girl, who Naruto could only assume was the guy's daughter, had pink hair, the same pink as Sakura. As he was about to turn away, the guy leaned in and gave Sakura a hug then walked off with the child. Sakura's smiling face said it all, so Naruto turned around and walked back the way he came.

As Naruto was walking back down the streets, he couldn't help but feel sorry for himself. Maybe if he had tried a bit harder when he had gotten back from his two year training trip. But, he wasn't mad, it's not like Sakura liked him anyways, so at the same time, Naruto was happy for Sakura for finding someone she could have a child with. Even if a child at her age was a bit of a rush.

That's when he saw Ino sitting at a coffee table in one of the restaurants, so he proceeded to enter the building and walk up to her.

"Why didn't you tell me she was seeing someone." He asked calmly.

Ino turned around to see who it was, "Oh, Naruto…what are you talking about?" she asked in confusion.

"Sakura, why didn't you tell me she was seeing someone, and that she had a kid?"

"Wha…if she is, then she never told me about it…and since when does she have a kid, I never noticed her pregnant or anything…"

"Well there was this little girl standing next to her and a guy, the girl had pink hair just like Sakura, and then she hugged the guy and they walked off." Naruto explained.

"Oh….well that sucks, I'll have to talk to her…for one, she never told me about any of this, and two, she was complaining about you not talking to her since you got back."

"Well, whatever, I'm just gonna go home I guess…here, you can have these back." Naruto said in a saddened tone as he handed Ino the bouquet.

Unbeknown to them, a certain someone was watching the transactions. She was fidgeting with her hands down by her waist. If you were looking at her, you would think that she was just dumped the day of her wedding with the way she was looking through the glass of the large window. She turned and walked off, letting out a long, drawn out sigh as she walked next to the buildings on her way to her home.

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Naruto started to walk home, feeling down and out. As he walked down Sakura's street he looked at her window, and there she was, looking up at the sky to the sun going down over the horizon. She then looked down and saw him walking along.

She waved and Naruto waved back, then she walked over to her door and opened it. Smiling, she motioned for Naruto to come over to her, so he did, nervousness starting to make itself known.

"Hey Naruto."

"Hi…what's up?"

"….what's up…I haven't seen you in over a year and that's all you can say…" she accused him teasingly. She then grabbed him by the arm and brought him inside, shutting the door behind her. She sat down on her couch, and motioned for Naruto to do the same. So he walked over and sat on the other side of the couch.

"So…how was your trip?" she asked, eagerly awaiting to hear his stories.

"Well….it felt a lot longer than it actually was, I had no one to talk to…" he chuckled. "But I did learn a few new jutsus, so that's a plus." He added.

"Yea….can't wait to see them in action." She said jokingly. "So…." She started, Naruto could hear the nervousness in her voice, "I wouldn't have thought that you would be into someone like Ino…"

Naruto looked at her in confusion, "Huh?"

Sakura glanced at him quickly before turning her gaze to a nearby vase, "I saw you buying flowers this morning…and I figured…you might be buying them…for me," she paused and looked to the floor for a second before turning her gaze to Naruto and mustering up a fake smile, "then I saw you giving them to Ino only a few minutes ago."

Naruto was completely dumbfounded, "Ugh….well, I kinda…actually….did buy them for you, but I gave them back to Ino because I noticed that you had a boyfriend, or husband, and a little girl with pink hair."

Sakura stared at him in confusion, "What…I don't even have a boyfriend, let alone a husband…and I certainly don't have a kid…" she replied.

Now Naruto was really confused, "But…I saw you with them outside of the hospital earlier…"

Sakura started laughing, "Naruto….that was my cousin…and the kid…that was his daughter, most of the girls in my clan have pink hair." She said with a wide smile, considering the whole mix up.

Naruto started to chuckle a bit, "Heh…now I feel kinda stupid." He said as he put his hands behind his head. "Now what were you talking about you thinking that I was buying them for you…" he asked.

Sakura shook her head, "You really are an idiot aren't you??" she asked teasingly.

"Hey, what did I do?" Naruto asked, obviously taking offense.

Sakura giggled, "Well…I thought it was kinda obvious…let's just say…I was _hoping_ that those flowers were for me…" she said turning her head.

Naruto looked at her, "Oh…um…" he couldn't really think of what to say, he wasn't entirely expecting this. Then he thought of it, "Well, I don't really feel like running back to pick them up." He said in a lazy tone. Sakura looked at him and frowned a bit, thinking that maybe he didn't like her as much anymore, then she looked back at the vase again. "But I could give you this instead…" and with that, she felt something being put around her wrist, so she turned her head back to look.

"Naruto…" she gasped as she brought a hand to her mouth. She was looking at a beautify encrusted bracelet made of white gold. She then looked up at him.

"I picked it up on a little side trip I took while I was gone, and I've had it ever since…looks like now I have a use for it." He said as he smiled.

"Na…Naruto, I can't accept this…"

"Sure you can, it's a gift…you wouldn't want to return a gift, would you." Naruto said with a sulky face as a joke. This only made Sakura laugh.

"Thanks Naruto, it's beautiful."

"Then it's a perfect match." He said with a smile as he got up and started walking over to the door.

Sakura was blushing now, and almost didn't realize that he had gotten up. "Naruto wait…" She called out, just as he was about to close her door. She walked up to him and smiled. She stood on her tippy toes and gave him a little kiss. When she opened her eyes, she started to blush. Naruto, who was speechless and also blushing, looked down at her and was about to say something. Then Sakura gently pushed him out of the doorway and said, "Welcome back." with a big smile, just before closing the door.

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Well, that's all I got....I'm not intending on expanding on this, but I'm gonna keep it as an incomplete story for awhile just in case i decide to add a chapter or something, who knows.

Reviews are always welcome, good or bad.


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